Published November 14, 2011 | 
The meeting on Wednesday 9th November kicked off on time with Tim introducing a theme for the evening of ‘beginners’.
Laura time kept and Mikael counted grunts. In her role a grammarian, Rebecca introduced the word of the day as ‘doppelgänger’, meaning a ghostly double or counterpart of a living person.
Yiorgos introduced the Toastmasters Leadership programme and explained the importance of evaluations.
Tim welcomed himself as Table Topics Master for the evening and, continuing the beginners theme, encourages each of the participants to come up and explain what would be their ideal table topic.
Nils and Victor stepped up and explained their backgrounds and how it was they came to be studying at Cranfield.
Run Lin talked about his fascination with the differences between Chinese and Western culture and the obsession for kissing in the West!
Kala recounted a conversation she’d had around ‘what is knowledge?’ And shared a view that it is not just power, but the power to choose.
In the first of the prepared speeches, Paul (evaluated by Yiorgos) gave his 4th speech entitled ‘Your mind and other planets’ in which he educated us on how to remember all the planets in the solar system in order of their distance from the sun, by framing them within a story.
Victor followed with his first Icebreaker speech (evaluated by Jim) in which, having outlined his business communications background he told us of his desire to give something back to society, be happy and make others proud.
Third speaker was Fiona (evaluated by Andy), who broke the ice with her first speech and, having explained her Italian name but French nationality, guided us away from the French stereotype of beret, baguettes and wine!
In her role as General Evaluator Louise gave evaluations of the three evaluators, the meeting officials and the meeting as a whole.
On Presidential matters, Jim clarified that new members will be expected to pay the initial registration fee of £25 plus a partial 6-monthly subscription in order that all memberships will be due for the full 6-monthly renewal at the end of March 2012.
Tim invited Cranfield members to attend two local Toastmasters Christmas events – The Eldergate Christmas Party and Tall Tales Competition on 7th Dec and also the North Bucks Christmas event. For more information, contact Jim Reynolds.
It was agreed that Cranfield would host its own international style Christmas event on Wednesday 14th December, involving tall tales and a ‘global’ seasonal buffet. Members are kindly requested to bring a donation of festive food to add to the international flavor of the night! Festive costumes optional 
18 attended including 2 guests.
Awards:
Best Speech – Paul
Best Evaluator – Jim
Best Table Topics – Kala
Best Humour – Victor
The meeting closed on time at 8pm.
Looking forward to our next meeting on Wednesday 23rd November at 6pm.
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Published October 31, 2011 | Following a 6 minute delay, the meeting on Wednesday 26th October kicked off with Louise introducing a Halloween flavour to the evening in her role as a bewitched Toastmaster.
Rebecca explained her role as timekeeper, Daniel introduced the word ‘sensuality’ as the word of the day in his role as grammarian and Yiorgos introduced the leadership programme.
Mikael acted as our Table Topics Master for the evening and, having introduced each of the participants as ghost experts, gave them each a question about their specialist subject.
In explaining his most terrifying ghost experience, Yiorgos told the terrible tale of how, as a child, he had dressed up in a pink cowboy outfit and his brother as a ghost. In answer to his question, Tim explained that the only thing to scare ghosts was the evil Topic Master, but offered them the solution to remember that fear is all in the mind. Stephanie described a see-through, Victorian woman with no feet who floated around re-enacting parts of her life when she wasn’t haunting, but reassured us that it was nothing to be scared of. Niels explained that should we see a ghost, we shouldn’t just run away screaming, we should take a second look and try to get to know it.
In the first of the prepared speeches, Yiorgos (evaluated by Andy) presented the ‘Advanced Leader Silver’ award to Jim (evaluated by Jeremy), who then gave a speech entitled ‘I don’t do humble!’ in response to the award of this highest leadership award available in Toastmasters, explaining how he had got to this level.
Tim then gave an educational speech about how to put a speech together, and outlined the strong, simple steps around subject, content structure, enhancement and delivery, using lots of examples and flight analogies along the way!
Tom (evaluated by Stephanie) gave his second prepared speech aptly entitled ‘The taboo of death’, in which he demonstrated speech organization, as well as a black sense of humour!
In his role as General Evaluator and, in the absence of an evaluator for Tim’s speech, John gave an impressive 90 second evaluation of Tim’s speech. This was followed by evaluations of the three evaluators, the meeting officials and the meeting as a whole. As part of this summary, John offered up the advice that more attention should be paid to the handovers between speakers.
On Presidential matters, Jim reminded all existing members that renewals were now payable – either to himself or Andy.
21 attended including 9 guests.
Awards:
Best Speech – Tom
Best Evaluator – Stephanie
Best Table Topics – Niels
Best Humour – Tom
The meeting closed on time at 8pm.
Looking forward to our next meeting on Wednesday 9th October at 6pm.
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Published October 2, 2011 | On the 28th September, Cranfield held its first ever humorous speech and impromptu speaking contest. After the judges and the contestants had been formally briefed, the evening kicked off with Andy opening the meeting in his role as Sergeant at Arms, introducing Jim as Contest Chair.
Maggie and Trisha kept time for the evening and Nicky and Jim counted grunts. Jenny headed up the panel of four judges.
The first contestant for humour was Louise, whose speech ‘Under the Stars’ guided the audience through three types of camping: Festival Camping, highlighting the need for waders and guitars for firewood; Wild Camping, featuring silence, solitude and survival skills; and Glamping, where expectations ride high around the luxury teepee offering.
Second contestant was Daniel, whose speech entitle ‘Seconds of mid-life anyone?’ gave us all an insight into his married, male and middle-aged state – even throwing in the odd mother-in-law joke!
Third up was Rebecca with her speech entitled ‘Starting School’, which included a personality profiling of the audience – using how they engaged with sweets back in their classroom days as the determining factor.
The fourth contestant was Paul, who took us through the three types of people perceived to be living their lives in a state of cliché – management consultants, politicians and society in general with our small talk.
As they entered the room one at a time, Jim advised each table topics contestant of the same topic, which was a definition of the word ‘jobsworth’ followed by the request to recall their most memorable encounter of a jobsworth.
First contestant for table topics was Paul, who recounted his experience within an engine room and a colleague refusing to clean some boiler plates using a toothbrush.
Second contestant was Louise who recalled her experience of returning items to a shop without a receipt.
Third up was Yiorgos, who spoke of petrol park attendants who had ideas above their station.
Fourth contestant was Tom, who observed the jobsworths among ‘Council Waste Executives’, but then pointed out that there is probably a jobsworth in all of us somewhere.
Jenny presented the Certificates of Participation for Humourous Speech 2011 and then announced 2nd place to Louise and 1st place to Paul.
Certificates of Participation for Table topics were given out, and 2nd place awarded to Paul, and 1st place awarded to Louise.
As winners from our club competition, Paul and Louise will go on to compete in the Beds and Bucks Area Contest, which Cranfield is hosting next Wednesday, 5th October, in the CMRI (Bldg 38) at 8pm. All members are warmly encouraged to attend this special Area event.
17 attended including 2 guests: Carla and Sam.
Carla commented on how clever people were to get up and talk on table topics and hopes one day to be able to do the same.
Sam expressed how impressed he was and would like to spread the word amongst his course mates.
A thoroughly entertaining meeting – thanks to all!
The meeting closed on time 7.55pm
Published September 17, 2011 | Following a 7-minute delay as people continued to arrive, the evening kicked off with Tim opening the meeting in his role as Toastmaster for the evening.
Rebecca explained her role as Timekeeper and, in her very impromptu role as Grammarian, multi-tasking Louise introduced ‘discombobulation’ (meaning confusion) as her word for the day.
Jim took up the challenge of telling a tasteful joke, which involved a foul-mouthed parrot, a freezer and a frozen chicken.
Alison acted as our Table Topics Master for the evening and gave each of the participants a colour to speak about.
Paul talked about grey and battleships and how better colours can make things much more exciting.
Adrian approached his topic of green by linking it to nature and science.
Yiorgos was given the colour pink, which, he explained to the group, reminded him of ties and Athens.
John came up and talked about yellow, relating it to waking up. John also talked about colour perception, recounting a story where yellow had been specifically chosen for a presentation to designers.
First speaker Yiorgos gave his eighth speech ‘80s lifestyle… proud to have been there?’ and demonstrated the skill of being comfortable with visual aids. Yiorgos took us all on a journey back to shoulder pads, big hair and The Karate Kid.
Evaluated by Paul, who commended the clarity of delivery and content and use of slides but also noted the issue of crossing in front of the projector to click to the next slide.
Second speaker Daniel broke the ice with his first speech ‘A slice of mid life’ and introduced himself to the group by talking about his three degrees, wife and three children, whilst simultaneously demonstrating his sharp statistical analysis skills.
Evaluated by Jim, who commended the humour, use of triads and vocabulary. Recommendations were to consider the timing, prepare a 20 second close and to avoid looking down at notes.
Third speaker John gave a speech entitled ‘Explain like I’m 5’, informing us of his addiction to the internet and to one particular website – ELI5. This aim of this speech was to demonstrate the key skill of writing and delivering a speech at short notice.
Evaluated by Tim, who commended John’s subject, opening and delivery. A recommendation was made to consider the length of time the prop (a phone) was used for in order to avoid distraction.
With lighting proving to be an issue and the darkness looming, General Evaluator Louise explained (with the aid of a torch) the value of giving feedback and the importance of allocating time for each speaker when evaluating table topics. This was followed by evaluations of the three evaluators, the meeting officials and the meeting as a whole.
On Presidential matters Jim reminded everyone that the 28th September is the Club’s Humorous Speech and Impromptu Speaking Contests and we now have some competitors. Please let Jim know if you would be interested in taking part.
Winners from our club competition will go on to compete in the Beds and Bucks Area Contest, which Cranfield is hosting the following Wednesday, 5th October, in the CMRI (Bldg 38) at 8pm. All members are warmly encouraged to attend this special Area event.
14 attended including 5 guests: Adrian, Carla, Jay, Chris and Wilson.
Carla commented on the amount of energy, even in the darkness and is keen to come again.
Jay explained that he didn’t know what to expect, but he was impressed with the fact that so many people got the chance to present and practice and is looking forward to attending again.
Adrian, having had previous experience of a Toastmasters Club, commented that it is a good example of a dynamic Toastmasters group, which is well structured with a lot of experience in the room, benefitting the club as a whole.
Chris explained that he thought the meeting might be more formal and was pleased to find that, although well structured and organised, it was fun and lively and provided good training for presentations and leading meetings.
Wilson highlighted the importance of developing these key skills and was impressed with the friendliness of the club and felt very welcome.
Awards:
Best Speech – John
Best Evaluator – Tim
Best Table Topics – Paul
Best Humour – Daniel
Another hugely enjoyable meeting – thanks to all!
The meeting closed on time 8.00pm
Published August 25, 2011 | Following a 17 minute delay as entry to the venue proved to be unusually challenging, the evening kicked off with Rohit opening the meeting in his role as Sergeant at Arms and introducing Vignesh as Toastmaster for the evening.
Paul explained his role as Timekeeper and, in his role as Grammarian, Yiorgos introduced ‘Gerrymandering’ (the process of lobbying to get what you want) as his word for the day.
Jim took up the challenge of telling a tasteful joke involving blondes, police officers and driving licenses.
Tim took on the role of Table Topics Master for the evening and provided participants with an opening line and an object.
John took on the first topic of “The recovery man came out form the bonnet of my car and gave me this [a lump of BluTack]…” by explaining his aversion to rivets and use of the BluTack instead.
Andy approached his topic, “The doctor came into the waiting room and handed me this [a conker]…” by describing what a culinary delight a vinegar-soaked conker is, but how it had resulted in great pain.
Louise explained why “The fireman came out of the burning house and handed me this [a golf ball]…” by recounting how the neighbours had thrown the golf ball through the window in anger following a party one night and unfortunately some candles had been left alight…
Alison’s theme of, “When all the guests had finally left, the cleaner handed me this [an extendable key-ring]…” was preceded by a vivid description of an office party with too much drink and photocopying and a clever refusal to fully explain the cleaner’s find.
First speaker Rebecca gave her third speech ‘A Survival Guide: The Family Holiday’ and presented the audience with a SWOT Analysis and her three recommendations for surviving family holidays – manage expectations, explore and reflect.
Evaluated by Alison, who stepped in on the night and commended use of the flip chart, composure and openness; and recommended attention to eye contact and use of colloquial terms.
Second speaker Mikael gave his second speech ‘How to Fly’ and explained the benefits of both solo and tandem sky-diving and highlighted the dangers of addiction!
Evaluated by John, who commended the inspiring and descriptive content, which had smooth transitions between sections, and which had been well-organised. Improvements to body language were noted and recommendations were made for closer attention to annunciation.
Third speaker Paul gave his second speech ‘The Bottle that Time Forgot’ and took us back to the origins of his plastic bottle two million years ago.
Evaluated by Andy, who commended Paul’s opening, his use of a prop and for making the audience think differently about the life of the plastic bottle. Recommendations were made for attention to body language and a stronger ending.
General Evaluator Jim explained the value of helping each other develop through evaluations. This was followed by evaluations of the three evaluators, the meeting officials and the meeting as a whole.
Vignesh was commended as Toastmaster, along with his effective delegation of roles and smooth running of the evening itself.
On Presidential matters Jim reminded everyone that the 28th September is the Club’s Humorous Speech Contest and members are now being requested to volunteer as contestants for this first Cranfield club contest. Please do let Jim know if you would be interested in participating on the 28th Sept.
On other matters, a discussion ensued about recruitment of new members following the Sept intake. It was agreed that Cranfield Toastmasters would request a stand at the CMA Fresher’s Fair, flyers would be included in student welcome packs and an introduction presentation would be done in the same way as last year.
15 attended including 2 guests, Eduardo and Carla, who commended the group and commented on how varied the topics had been and how the two hours had just flown!
Awards:
Best Speech – Paul
Best Evaluator – Andy
Best Table Topics – John
Best Humour – John
A hugely enjoyable meeting – thanks to all!
The meeting closed on time 8.00pm
Farewell to Rohit and good luck for your new job in Aberdeen! Best wishes also go to all the other Cranfield MBA Toastmasters and we look forward to welcoming some new ones
Published July 19, 2011 | Toastmaster for the evening Alison opened the meeting with a smile in the absence of a Sergeant at Arms, introducing the agenda with last minute changes due to shortfall of members.
Timekeeper Andy explained the role and kept time for everyone.
Grammarian Carl gave us ‘Wicked’ with the two meanings; wicked meaning cruel, evil intention or conversely the modern use meaning really good, i.e. a wicked concert.
No grunt counter this meeting.
Yiorgos gave his session on VPE and asked who had and had not brought their manuals by a show of hands, those raising their hands for the latter…enough said. Encouraging words followed to develop with the projects.
Table Topics master Jeremie gave us four unusual subjects to perform in a the style of a sales promotion.
Yiorgos drummed up enthusiasm to support the Bedfordshire Renault Clio Owners fund rasing rally which was to driven by one fast car with men in and another car with fast women in!
Vinesh convinced us that a Spy School was a worth while venture to enable under privileged children to master the art of spying.
Cynthia gave us a colourful sales pitch on the new vogue in combined umbrellas for both dog and owner when out walking in the typical English rain.
Tim appealed for the preservation of the rare Blue-Tailed-Beaver which needed its own nature reserve in order to allow people to benefit from their magical powers.
First Speaker Jim
‘Wind farms a Clear and Present Danger’ gave his humourous (verging on the ridiculous) speech about the real dangers of wind farms on the rotation of the earth and the risks of upsetting gravity.
Evaluated by Vignesh, his first evaluation, and though apprehensive he was not phased in dealing with experienced speaker, noting good use of voice modulation and a little too much eye contact with the power point screen. Well done Vignesh.
Second Speaker Paul , his Icebreaker, ‘My Epic Survival’ told us of his varied career moves and by contract to his high-tec work his passion for getting out in the wilds and his recent survival training making string, spoons and fire. out in the wilderness, just outside Tunbridge Wells.
Evaluated by Tom who stepped in at the last minute to do his first evaluation. He did so with aplomb (an appropriate word which he dropped in) Commended structure, content and interest with clarity good hand gestures and a summary. Well done Jeremie.
13 attended including 2 guests Daniel and Shiny. both enjoyed the evening and Daniel is going to join and also gave some useful feedback on how difficult the venue was to find and so it was decided to make a sign for the door to be posted on meeting nights.
As there was only 2 speakers we elected to have another round of Table Topics.
Carl stepped up and invited 4 speakers to extol the virtues of particular elements of a container of Whiteboard Wipes.
Tom elaborated of what the ‘Colour’ really means its interpretation by the brain as a colour and how light makes us safe and darkness brings irrational fear of the unseen. He also demonstrated his french accent for extra marks in certain seats in the audience .
Shiny gave us a brief rundown of the ‘Contents’ and realised that table topics are not as easy as it looks! So well done for a first attempt, you got up for the first time, we look forward to seeing you up again.
Cynthia told about the ‘journey’ this container had been on and described the tub rattling along with all it’s brother and sisters. Personification in a table topic well done.
Jeremie enthralled us with an explanation of the ‘Shape’ of the container which employed the design concept of being “edgeless” This made it safe, ergonomic and so perfect it could just exist in its own right as a shape.
In the break Paul displayed his survival samples; a spoon, nettle string and fish hook and explained fire making, another speech all in itself I think there Paul, but please no real demonstrations.
General Evaluator Tim explained the purpose and the value of evaluations in helping each other develop. Then gave evaluations of the three evaluators, the meeting officials, and reinforced the praise for both the Icebreaker and the first time evaluations by Vignesh and Tom.
Commended Alison as Toastmaster in what can be a difficult situation with people short and roles switched, two lots of table topics without any flusters.
On Presidential matters Jim reminded everyone that next week is the Charter Dinner 20th July at 6.30pm onwards for drinks dining at 7.00pm please book to secure your meal and pay in advance if possible. what was to be done to recruit new intake in September and there would be an opportunity to contact head of communications who will be attending the charter dinner. It was greed and introduction presentation would be a good idea as had been done last year.
Awards:
Best Speech – not awarded as there were only two speeches.
Best Evaluator – Tim (for general evaluator).
Best Table Topics – Tom
Best Humour – Carl
A great evening despite the lack of members, a good example of what you can do if you really try, well done to everyone for making it happen.
The meeting closed on time 8.30pm
Author Tim
Published July 12, 2011 | Cranfield Toastmasters Club chartered in June! Well done to all those involved and we’re looking forward to the celebratory Charter Dinner on 20th July.
Posted in Club News, Cranfield Members' Blog | 
Charter, club, Cranfield, Toastmasters | 
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